Medication Errors

Medication errors affect patients of all ages and demographics, and elderly patients in nursing homes are particularly vulnerable to these errors and suffering from serious injuries, illnesses, or even death. If your loved one is suffering from a medication error due to a nursing home’s negligence, speak with an experienced personal injury attorney as soon as possible.

Medication errors are defined by the National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention as:

“Any preventable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm while the medication is in the control of the health care professional, patient, or consumer…related to professional practice, health care products, procedures, and systems, including prescribing; order communication; product labeling, packaging, and nomenclature; compounding; dispensing; distribution; administration; education; monitoring; and use.”

Doctors, physicians, or facility staff are generally liable in medication error cases, and different laws may apply depending on the particular party which was negligent. Unfortunately, these errors are on the rise all around us, and we are even statistically more likely to fall victim to these errors than other common types of accidents. According to one study from the Institute of Medicine, about 380,000 adverse drug events (ADEs) occur annually in the United States – resulting in over $3.5 billion in annual medical costs and about 98,000 deaths – and elderly patients are especially vulnerable to the health risks of these needless errors.

The most common types of medication errors include prescribing the wrong medication or dosage and prescribing multiple medications which should not be mixed, and common causes of these errors include:

Writing improper/inaccurate medication orders;

Mislabeling medications;

Failing to take a patient’s complete medical history;

Failing to account for a patient’s weight, allergies, or current medications;

Failing to note a patient’s reaction/s to one or more particular medications.

Common physical signs of an adverse drug event include:

Anaphylaxis;

Changes in mental state, heart rate, or respiratory status;

Diarrhea;

Fever;

Hearing/vision problems;

Rashes;

Seizures.

Many adverse drug events are preventable through the proper use of computerized monitoring, which the Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality estimates could prevent up to 95% of all ADEs. However, when a medication error and ADE result directly from the negligence of a doctor, physician, staff member, or the nursing home itself, your loved one deserves full compensation for all their injuries and losses, including medical expenses and pain and suffering.

If your loved one has been the victim of a medication error and/or adverse drug event due to negligence, contact Agruss Law Firm, LLC for a free consultation. We are a personal injury law firm representing individuals (and their families) who have suffered an injury. We will handle your case quickly and advise you every step of the way, and we will not hesitate to go to trial for you. Lastly, Agruss Law Firm, LLC is not paid attorneys’ fees unless we win your case. Our no-fee promise is that simple. You have nothing to risk when you hire us – only the opportunity to seek justice.

The information on this Web site is for general purposes only and should not be interpreted to indicate a certain result will occur in your specific legal situation. Information on this Web site is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship.